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"Donald Trump has no interest in saving American lives," writes Hartmann. "He and his Republican buddies just want average Americans back at work to make their billionaire friends and donors even richer, no matter how many workers die in the process." (Image: DonkeyHotey/flickr/cc)
Will Americans Reject Trump and the GOP Death Cult This Fall?
Will November bring the kind of change necessary to put an end to unnecessary death as a routine way of life in this country?
Jul 14, 2020
The Trump administration is a death cult.
They revel in their efforts to end Obamacare and cut millions of Americans off healthcare.
They celebrate last night's resumption of federal executions.
They enthusiastically authorize the use of formerly banned pesticides that cause cancer and neurological damage to children.
Trump's first official action was to allow coal and oil companies to dump more waste in our rivers, poisoning people downstream.
As children were being slaughtered in classrooms across America, Trump doubled down on supporting the NRA.
As Black people across America continue to be regularly murdered by police, Trump calls those asking for change "terrorists" and "thugs." He refers to Nazis as "very fine people" and has even retweeted calls for "white power."
Over international objections and in violation of U.S. law, the administration is selling weapons to Saudi Arabia to continue bombing civilians in Yemen.
Numerous children have died in U.S. detention facilities, yet they continue to give millions of dollars to Trump's contributor corporations to continue holding these children in deplorable, disgusting conditions.
The Republicans in Congress are fighting all efforts to extend more unemployment relief to American families, further stressing out people in ways that inevitably, history tells us, lead to domestic violence and suicide.
The simple fact is that Donald Trump and the people he has surrounded himself with--like chief racist Steven Miller--appear to love causing other people pain.
Trump even encouraged police to rough up people who have not yet been convicted of a crime, and told his followers that if they injured protesters he would pay their legal expenses.
But the coronavirus is their crowning achievement.
Simply by discouraging people from wearing masks or social distancing and raising doubts about science, Trump and his buddies have caused the deaths of over a hundred thousand Americans, with more dead bodies to come if they continue on this path.
Trump goes to states with massive Covid outbreaks and holds indoor rallies, knowing that it will lead to the death of many of the people attending. What is he thinking as he is looking out on his little crowds, knowing that some of those people will be dead in a matter of weeks because of his desperate need for adulation?
Trump refuses to use the Defense Production Act to build up our stockpiles of testing equipment and PPE, making the situation for people in states where the virus is exploding right now a death-dealing crisis.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who has spent her lifetime trying to destroy public schooling, is joining with Trump in trying to punish public school teachers and families who send their kids to public school by bringing disease and death into their homes.
And none of this had to happen.
All over the world, country after country have responded to the coronavirus in ways that have defeated it.
New Zealand hasn't had a new case in weeks, and normalcy has largely returned to the island nation.
Taiwan, similarly, has mostly beat the virus and recently had a baseball game with over 10,000 people in attendance.
All over Europe, countries have kept their unemployment rates well below 10% by aggressive government actions, and have beaten the virus through extensive testing and contact tracing as well as mandating masks and social distancing.
Over at the New York Times, Economist Paul Krugman asks a simple question:
"At its most severe, the lockdown seems to have reduced G.D.P. by a little over 10 percent. During World War II, America spent more than 30 percent of G.D.P. on defense, for more than three years. Why couldn't we absorb a much smaller cost for a few months?"
The answer, of course, is that Donald Trump has no interest in saving American lives. He and his Republican buddies just want average Americans back at work to make their billionaire friends and donors even richer, no matter how many workers die in the process.
Trump appears to delight in knowing that because he and his Party have opposed expanding America's social safety net for decades, there's an almost endless supply of poor and low-income people desperate enough for a paycheck that they'll take their lives in their hands to feed their families.
The Trump administration is a death cult. The Republican Party is a death cult.
And Americans and their children are, overwhelmingly, not enthusiastic about dying.
Will November bring the kind of change necessary to put an end to unnecessary death as a routine part of the American way of life?
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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Thom Hartmann
Thom Hartmann is a talk-show host and the author of "The Hidden History of Monopolies: How Big Business Destroyed the American Dream" (2020); "The Hidden History of the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America" (2019); and more than 25 other books in print.
The Trump administration is a death cult.
They revel in their efforts to end Obamacare and cut millions of Americans off healthcare.
They celebrate last night's resumption of federal executions.
They enthusiastically authorize the use of formerly banned pesticides that cause cancer and neurological damage to children.
Trump's first official action was to allow coal and oil companies to dump more waste in our rivers, poisoning people downstream.
As children were being slaughtered in classrooms across America, Trump doubled down on supporting the NRA.
As Black people across America continue to be regularly murdered by police, Trump calls those asking for change "terrorists" and "thugs." He refers to Nazis as "very fine people" and has even retweeted calls for "white power."
Over international objections and in violation of U.S. law, the administration is selling weapons to Saudi Arabia to continue bombing civilians in Yemen.
Numerous children have died in U.S. detention facilities, yet they continue to give millions of dollars to Trump's contributor corporations to continue holding these children in deplorable, disgusting conditions.
The Republicans in Congress are fighting all efforts to extend more unemployment relief to American families, further stressing out people in ways that inevitably, history tells us, lead to domestic violence and suicide.
The simple fact is that Donald Trump and the people he has surrounded himself with--like chief racist Steven Miller--appear to love causing other people pain.
Trump even encouraged police to rough up people who have not yet been convicted of a crime, and told his followers that if they injured protesters he would pay their legal expenses.
But the coronavirus is their crowning achievement.
Simply by discouraging people from wearing masks or social distancing and raising doubts about science, Trump and his buddies have caused the deaths of over a hundred thousand Americans, with more dead bodies to come if they continue on this path.
Trump goes to states with massive Covid outbreaks and holds indoor rallies, knowing that it will lead to the death of many of the people attending. What is he thinking as he is looking out on his little crowds, knowing that some of those people will be dead in a matter of weeks because of his desperate need for adulation?
Trump refuses to use the Defense Production Act to build up our stockpiles of testing equipment and PPE, making the situation for people in states where the virus is exploding right now a death-dealing crisis.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who has spent her lifetime trying to destroy public schooling, is joining with Trump in trying to punish public school teachers and families who send their kids to public school by bringing disease and death into their homes.
And none of this had to happen.
All over the world, country after country have responded to the coronavirus in ways that have defeated it.
New Zealand hasn't had a new case in weeks, and normalcy has largely returned to the island nation.
Taiwan, similarly, has mostly beat the virus and recently had a baseball game with over 10,000 people in attendance.
All over Europe, countries have kept their unemployment rates well below 10% by aggressive government actions, and have beaten the virus through extensive testing and contact tracing as well as mandating masks and social distancing.
Over at the New York Times, Economist Paul Krugman asks a simple question:
"At its most severe, the lockdown seems to have reduced G.D.P. by a little over 10 percent. During World War II, America spent more than 30 percent of G.D.P. on defense, for more than three years. Why couldn't we absorb a much smaller cost for a few months?"
The answer, of course, is that Donald Trump has no interest in saving American lives. He and his Republican buddies just want average Americans back at work to make their billionaire friends and donors even richer, no matter how many workers die in the process.
Trump appears to delight in knowing that because he and his Party have opposed expanding America's social safety net for decades, there's an almost endless supply of poor and low-income people desperate enough for a paycheck that they'll take their lives in their hands to feed their families.
The Trump administration is a death cult. The Republican Party is a death cult.
And Americans and their children are, overwhelmingly, not enthusiastic about dying.
Will November bring the kind of change necessary to put an end to unnecessary death as a routine part of the American way of life?
Thom Hartmann
Thom Hartmann is a talk-show host and the author of "The Hidden History of Monopolies: How Big Business Destroyed the American Dream" (2020); "The Hidden History of the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America" (2019); and more than 25 other books in print.
The Trump administration is a death cult.
They revel in their efforts to end Obamacare and cut millions of Americans off healthcare.
They celebrate last night's resumption of federal executions.
They enthusiastically authorize the use of formerly banned pesticides that cause cancer and neurological damage to children.
Trump's first official action was to allow coal and oil companies to dump more waste in our rivers, poisoning people downstream.
As children were being slaughtered in classrooms across America, Trump doubled down on supporting the NRA.
As Black people across America continue to be regularly murdered by police, Trump calls those asking for change "terrorists" and "thugs." He refers to Nazis as "very fine people" and has even retweeted calls for "white power."
Over international objections and in violation of U.S. law, the administration is selling weapons to Saudi Arabia to continue bombing civilians in Yemen.
Numerous children have died in U.S. detention facilities, yet they continue to give millions of dollars to Trump's contributor corporations to continue holding these children in deplorable, disgusting conditions.
The Republicans in Congress are fighting all efforts to extend more unemployment relief to American families, further stressing out people in ways that inevitably, history tells us, lead to domestic violence and suicide.
The simple fact is that Donald Trump and the people he has surrounded himself with--like chief racist Steven Miller--appear to love causing other people pain.
Trump even encouraged police to rough up people who have not yet been convicted of a crime, and told his followers that if they injured protesters he would pay their legal expenses.
But the coronavirus is their crowning achievement.
Simply by discouraging people from wearing masks or social distancing and raising doubts about science, Trump and his buddies have caused the deaths of over a hundred thousand Americans, with more dead bodies to come if they continue on this path.
Trump goes to states with massive Covid outbreaks and holds indoor rallies, knowing that it will lead to the death of many of the people attending. What is he thinking as he is looking out on his little crowds, knowing that some of those people will be dead in a matter of weeks because of his desperate need for adulation?
Trump refuses to use the Defense Production Act to build up our stockpiles of testing equipment and PPE, making the situation for people in states where the virus is exploding right now a death-dealing crisis.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who has spent her lifetime trying to destroy public schooling, is joining with Trump in trying to punish public school teachers and families who send their kids to public school by bringing disease and death into their homes.
And none of this had to happen.
All over the world, country after country have responded to the coronavirus in ways that have defeated it.
New Zealand hasn't had a new case in weeks, and normalcy has largely returned to the island nation.
Taiwan, similarly, has mostly beat the virus and recently had a baseball game with over 10,000 people in attendance.
All over Europe, countries have kept their unemployment rates well below 10% by aggressive government actions, and have beaten the virus through extensive testing and contact tracing as well as mandating masks and social distancing.
Over at the New York Times, Economist Paul Krugman asks a simple question:
"At its most severe, the lockdown seems to have reduced G.D.P. by a little over 10 percent. During World War II, America spent more than 30 percent of G.D.P. on defense, for more than three years. Why couldn't we absorb a much smaller cost for a few months?"
The answer, of course, is that Donald Trump has no interest in saving American lives. He and his Republican buddies just want average Americans back at work to make their billionaire friends and donors even richer, no matter how many workers die in the process.
Trump appears to delight in knowing that because he and his Party have opposed expanding America's social safety net for decades, there's an almost endless supply of poor and low-income people desperate enough for a paycheck that they'll take their lives in their hands to feed their families.
The Trump administration is a death cult. The Republican Party is a death cult.
And Americans and their children are, overwhelmingly, not enthusiastic about dying.
Will November bring the kind of change necessary to put an end to unnecessary death as a routine part of the American way of life?
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